Summertime is the Perfect Time to Explore Exciting Exhibits Offered by Local Museums

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In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long. With a number of exciting and all-new exhibits currently on display (or coming soon), summer is a perfect time to plan a visit to a favorite museum or explore a new one.

Below is a sampling of a number of all-new and must-visit exhibits that cover a variety of topics and interests.

“Art of the Airport Tower” at the Aerospace Museum of California

Visitors to the Aerospace Museum will enjoy the special Art of the Airport Tower exhibit that takes guests on a photographic journey to airports throughout the United States and around the globe. With new views on airport form and function, the visually-exciting exhibit showcases 50 striking photographs by Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo that reveal the architectural, cultural, and technological significance of each of the featured airport traffic towers. The exhibit tells the story of changing technology, design and architecture in aviation and may change how museum guests think about flight. By popular demand, this exhibit will remain on display until early September. For more information, visit AeroSpaceca.org.

“Crafting a Rebellion” at the California Automobile Museum

With more than a dozen cars on special display in the Museum’s main gallery, this limited-time exhibit tells the story of the creativity, ingenuity, and craftsmanship in Sacramento. The new exhibit covers the culture that fueled the desire to customize and hot rod cars, the relationship between customs and hot rods, and their connection to racing in the Sacramento area. The exhibit also provides perspective and insight into the people and culture from the 1940s through the early 1960s, including the work of Harry Westergard, Dick Bertolucci, and Sam Barris. A few of the automobiles on display include Sam Barris’s personal 1949 Mercury, a 1939 Ford customized by Harry Westergard, a 1929 Ford Roadster which once earned the title “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” plus a recreation of the famous 1951 Hirohata Mercury custom. For more information, visit CalAutoMuseum.org.

“California at Bat: America’s Pastime in the Golden State” at the California Museum

Opening July 29, this new exhibit explores the state’s history of baseball from the Gold Rush to the modern era, revealing its legacy of all-stars and the contributions of women, African American, Latino and other players who broke barriers to broaden the game’s enduring appeal. Featuring more than 200 Cooperstown-worthy artifacts and photographs, highlights include uniforms, equipment and ephemera from games played by Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax and many more, plus objects from Pacific Coast League teams including the Sacramento Solons. For details, visit CaliforniaMuseum.org/baseball.

“Testament of the Spirit: Paintings by Eduardo Carrillo” at the Crocker Art Museum

Museum visitors can feast their eyes on this bilingual and career-spanning exhibition of 60 works by Eduardo Carrillo, an inspirational leader, painter, teacher, and social activist known for advancing Chicano culture in California during the 1960s and 70s. Carrillo’s large-scale oil paintings have been described as mystical, surreal, and visionary, while his intimate watercolors reflect the artist’s daily life in self-portraits, still lifes, and images of people and places he held dear. For more information, visit Crockerart.org.

“Death Valley Scotty’s Race for Glory” at the California State Railroad Museum

The California State Railroad Museum & Foundation are proud to present a special, limited-time exhibit titled “Death Valley Scotty’s Race for Glory” that relates the suspenseful and thrilling story of Death Valley Scotty’s record-breaking, high speed trip from Los Angeles to Chicago in 1905. As a dramatic centerpiece to this interpretive and inspiring exhibit, a massive steam locomotive used during the feat – Santa Fe’s No. 1010 – is on public display. The historic locomotive No. 1010, part of the Museum’s impressive collection, was last displayed in the Museum in the 1990s. Since that time, No. 1010 has been stored and maintained in the nearby Railyard Shops. For more information, visit Californiarailroad.museum.

“Utilities at Work” at the Roseville Utility Exploration Center

On display through August, this limited time exhibit highlights photographs of City of Roseville Utility staff hard at work delivering reliable and safe utility services to our community. This exhibit complements the July event Big Trucks Summer, where visitors can catch utilities in action, explore utility trucks and get to know the utility workers who operate them. The “Utilities at Work” exhibit and Big Trucks Summer event are an opportunity for visitors to gain a unique perspective on the important, but often behind-the-scenes, work of our utilities and discover what they are doing to improve their city every day. For more information, visit Roseville.ca.us/explore.

For more information about upcoming activities offered by Sacramento area museums – that is celebrating 20 years in 2018 – “like” them on Facebook at Facebook.com/SacMuseums, follow them on Instagram and Twitter @SacMuseums or visit the user-friendly website at SacMuseums.org.

Event Details

Turn back in time for a day of historic knowledge and interactive fun.
The activities and demonstrations on Demonstration Days can vary by the day, but may include cooperage, candle dipping,

Event Details

Turn back in time for a day of historic knowledge and interactive fun.

The activities and demonstrations on Demonstration Days can vary by the day, but may include cooperage, candle dipping, blacksmithing, tours, black powder, cooking, baking, weaving, scavenger hunts, and more.

Admission is $7 per adult (18 and older), $5 per youth (ages 6 to 17) and is free for children 5 and under. Ticket can be purchased at the door.

Event Details

Iliza is one of today’s leading comedians with a fan base who show their loyalty by creating their

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Event Details

Iliza is one of today’s leading comedians with a fan base who show their loyalty by creating their own Iliza inspired swag to wear to her shows. Last year she hosted her late night limited run talk show “Truth & Iliza,” on Freeform. In November 2017, she released her first book Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity (Hachette Book Group) a subversively funny collection of essays and observations on a confident woman’s approach to friendship, singlehood, and relationships.

Originally from Dallas, Iliza moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Emerson College. She is the only female and youngest comedian to hold the title of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Her debut comedy special, War Paint, was acquired by Netflix and was named one of its Top 10 Albums of 2013. Iliza’s follow-up Netflix specials, Freezing Hot and Confirmed Kills, sealed her title as one of the hottest touring acts in America, with Esquire Magazine listing her as one of the top working comedians today.

About the author

Traci Rockefeller Cusack

Traci Rockefeller Cusack has 25+ years of media and public relations experience. Her work experience includes News10 (ABC) as Promotion Manager from 1989-1998 (where she developed and launched “Coats for Kids’ Sake,” a winter coat drive that lasted 20+ years plus coordinated Oprah Winfrey’s first ever visit to Sacramento) and Fleishman-Hillard as Vice President from 1998-2005 (where she led the wildly successful statewide “California Grown” program and also produced the five-minute video that played on the Jumbotron on Opening Day at Pac Bell Park). In 2007, she launched T-Rock Communications and currently handles a wide range of marketing activities for a number of top-notch organizations.

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